Some more progress was made down south this weekend. What a busy busy weekend. Had Dr.Esker down from Thursday to Saturday for some data input for his research work of ancient tortoises versus modern living specimens. Over 3000 measurements were taken and he documented weights, lengths and a complete profile of 60 of our tortoises. He has to come back this summer to finish. Anyways. Started on the ground breaking of the park with a nice new start of an enclosure for a bunch of tortoises and pathways.
Before area.
Constructing the cold frame. 20'x40'
The south west exposure I decided to utilize full colored 28 gauge metal for the roof. Instead of wire/shade clothe like the other screen house. Since this is more exposed to sun.
Saturday was a fun day. Ribbon snake with a lizard in his belly. Also saw a large indigo snake that a mockingbird was pecking at, and later a massive 6.5' rattler. Anyways.
Working on clearing areas for pathways to lead through areas that will have more bird cages and tortoise exhibits.
Clear area behind first screen house with some water turtles in it. That house is on another thread. I didn't do very well at taking before pics. But lots of trash and debris was in these areas. Lots of clean up.
Than lay geofabric (like commercial weed clothe I got from work) where paths will be.
Then do some dirt leveling inside the new tort building. The other half of the roof will be clear.
Then set up the main outline of the walk path inside the building.
Then gravel everything. Of course I didn't take pics whilst doing it. But I used metal edging to shape and hold in the gravel on the pathways.
That's it for now. I got so busy I forgot to take the latest photos. But the enclosure walls are up and dirt piles ready to be spread out after some nice planting in the pens first. This project will take about 2-3 weekends to complete. Not sure what species I'll place in here. Will have 6 8'x8' enclosures and the smaller side is 6' deep so maybe some smaller ones like Hermanns and the Russians.
Before area.
Constructing the cold frame. 20'x40'
The south west exposure I decided to utilize full colored 28 gauge metal for the roof. Instead of wire/shade clothe like the other screen house. Since this is more exposed to sun.
Saturday was a fun day. Ribbon snake with a lizard in his belly. Also saw a large indigo snake that a mockingbird was pecking at, and later a massive 6.5' rattler. Anyways.
Working on clearing areas for pathways to lead through areas that will have more bird cages and tortoise exhibits.
Clear area behind first screen house with some water turtles in it. That house is on another thread. I didn't do very well at taking before pics. But lots of trash and debris was in these areas. Lots of clean up.
Than lay geofabric (like commercial weed clothe I got from work) where paths will be.
Then do some dirt leveling inside the new tort building. The other half of the roof will be clear.
Then set up the main outline of the walk path inside the building.
Then gravel everything. Of course I didn't take pics whilst doing it. But I used metal edging to shape and hold in the gravel on the pathways.
That's it for now. I got so busy I forgot to take the latest photos. But the enclosure walls are up and dirt piles ready to be spread out after some nice planting in the pens first. This project will take about 2-3 weekends to complete. Not sure what species I'll place in here. Will have 6 8'x8' enclosures and the smaller side is 6' deep so maybe some smaller ones like Hermanns and the Russians.